Next Time
by Teyerin
Summary: Ed seeks Jack out after the shooting on the courthouse steps.


Next Time

Disclaimer: Don't own Wolf, don't pretend to.

Set after "Criminal Law" with references to "Monster" and other episodes in between. Ed Green goes in search of Jack McCoy after the shooting incident on the courthouse steps.

The man at the distant end of the bar was a far cry from the one the younger man was used to seeing. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have sought out this person, but gut feeling told him to play a hunch.

The man seated at the bar had his hair combed to the other side, a few loose strands giving an uncaring, unkempt look. Ed Green knew that to be a lie, impressed with the impromptu disguise, yet saddened to see the man here just the same.

"You know," Ed said as he sat down in the empty seat beside him, "this is the last place you should be."

Jack McCoy folded his arms on the bar and turned his head slowly, a wistful smile on his face. Ed couldn't help but wonder how many drinks the Irishman had.

"I've been telling myself that same thing a few times now. I know I'm not sorry that Leland Barnes is dead, but I feel for his boy for pulling the trigger."

Ed ordered a beer given that he was off duty. He couldn't help but hope that Lennie's spirit might remain with him during this chat, too. Given it was a mental nudge from the wise detective that led Ed here in the first place, Ed thought it only fitting that the 'Ghost of Briscoe' might at least consider joining them.

It was then that Ed noticed the glass before the prosecutor was being refilled with club soda.

"I don't know if it was cowardice or what," Jack said, "but obviously, I didn't deal with that well."

"Nothin' wrong with self preservation, Jack." Ed decided it was safe to assume that the other man probably carried a great deal of guilt, too. "And remember Alexandra Borgia's safe."

Jack nodded. "I told her that I thought the shooter was aiming for me. Before you and Fontana arrived to take statements, I did what I could to push down the fear and shame and anger I felt, reassuring myself that Alex was in fact all right. It happened so fast and yet it seemed like slow motion, too."

"By all accounts, you did what you were supposed to do. If anything, Lieu was kinda angry with cutting the protective detail short."

Jack shook his head. "Why? You thought you had the hit man. We all thought…" Jack shook his head again. "I guess part of me suspects there's an 'I told you so' awaiting me, deservedly so, too."

It took Ed a moment to make sense of what Jack was referring to, and then it hit him.

----

(the past)

"The next time someone takes a shot at you in court, tell me how you deal with it," Ed Green said, his frustration reaching a boiling point.

Jack McCoy turned his attention to the young man who sought refuge by the office door. "If you don't like your job's requirements, Detective, then I suggest you turn in your badge."

Ed remembered the long chat that he and Lennie had afterwards and that was when the young man learned that the prosecutor's father was a cop.

"Heck, Lennie, you'd think if anyone got it, he would."

"Look, his boss busts his chops, he busts ours. Don't take it personally. If you do, those anger management recommendations will take an entirely different tone."

Ed shook his head, not buying it. "But where does he come off-?"

"Screw-ups get to be shared; successes don't." Lennie clapped Ed's back. "For the record, things could always be worse."

Ed raised an eyebrow at that. "How?"

"For starters, either one of us could have been hit or dead. Secondly, and this is trivial, either one of us could have been called to the witness stand to testify about it."

Lennie refilled his friend's drink then continued, "We're on the same side of the fight, just have a different set of rules we get to play by and who we have to answer to when we lose. And seriously, be glad you haven't had to be sucker punched on the stand."

Ed sighed. "What'll be nice is seeing someone take a shot McCoy's way for once."

Lennie waved a finger at him. "It's that kind of thinkin' that's going to get you in trouble yet. Careful of what you wish for, too, because it could backfire on you."

Ed chuckled; glad to have this camaraderie with his partner at times like these. The last precinct he worked at, Ed knew his partner saw him more as a nuisance.

"Your confidence in my skills is reassuring, Lennie."

"It isn't your skills I'm concerned about. It's the various scumbags out there who like to take target practice at anyone with a badge that gets me."

--

(the present)

"You're not going to get that from me," Ed said in a softer tone. "It isn't as though it's open season on lawyers all the time."

He regretted saying it like that as an image of defense attorney Danielle Melnick strapped to a gurney came to mind. That conversation with Lennie afterward proved to be sobering as well.

--

(the past)

"Better be careful, Jack," Lennie warned. "Looks like it's open season on lawyers,"

Understandably, McCoy went straight to the hospital, unable to ride in the ambulance with his friend. Serena went to the office to get started on her share of the paperwork while Lennie and Ed did the same.

The precinct at this hour had a different 'hum' to it than the usual hours the guys worked, something Ed was grateful for. While the actions of defense attorneys like Melnick and Grodie gave him a headache, the whole deal with Julian Preusse and his followers made the young man sick to his stomach. The fact that the followers could continue to kill without conscious, claiming it was their right was something Ed couldn't fathom.

"Hey," Lennie said as he tapped Ed's nameplate with his pencil, "come on back to earth, partner."

Ed blinked a few times. "Sorry, man. I couldn't help but wonder…"

"Wonder aloud, Ed," Lennie told him. "Better yet, get your things together and we'll go out for a drink, my treat."

So for the next hour or so, Ed talked about what was on his mind about what unsettled him about Melnick's hospitalization, and memories of friends and gunshot wounds of the past.

--

(the present)

"Earth to Ed," Jack said good-naturedly.

Ed cracked a smile. "I'm here, man. Mind was elsewhere for a sec, but I'm back."

Jack nodded. "Glad you are, too." Ed gave him a look. "I confess I wasn't sure…when you got shot last year…I… Never mind."

Ed's curiosity piqued. "You what, Jack?"

While Ed suspected that Jack and Lennie were closer than they let on during working hours, it still caught the young man off guard when he saw that barely noticeable change in the prosecutor's demeanor towards him. "Jack?"

The Irishman took a long drink from his glass, looking straight ahead before answering. "I feared the worst at first," he admitted. "I don't know what else to say but…I feared the worst."

"It's part of my job description, Jack. Those types of risks, I mean. Does your contract have a similar clause in it? Do you have bulletproof vests at the ready in your office? Nah, you just have a badge that some punks will aim at whether or not you've got a gun, man."

"It doesn't mean we should grow accustomed to that, though," Jack said. With a heavy sigh, he set the empty glass down, taking his wallet out to pay the tab.

"Nuh-uh," Ed said, "This one's on me."

Jack gave him a half smile. "I promised Lennie a couple of things before he-. The day I let you pick up the tab is the day that will never happen."

Ed flinched as he bit the inside of his cheek, tempted to press Jack for a bit more information there before deciding silence was best.

Jack clapped him on the back. "Detective… Ed, I'll be all right. I'll even remember to give Alexandra and Serena and Abigail and Jamie a call to let them know I'm all right - as promised. The next time something like this happens…"

"The next time Death comes this close to the door, _you_ just remember mine's always open," Ed told him, hoping the two of them wouldn't have a similar chat like this for a long, long time.

(fin)


End file.
